Defense Business Briefing -- March 25, 2025

Welcome to today's Defense Business Briefing, your weekly roundup of the latest defense industry news.

This week's top story

Defense tech execs predict at least one $1B+ program will be killed by year's end

Defense industry executives expect the Trump administration's cost-cutting advisory team will come for at least one billion-dollar Pentagon program by the end of 2025, with a former congressman saying it shouldn't stop there.

News & notes

Boeing wins multibillion-dollar bid for the Air Force's next-generation fighter

The Trump administration today announced Boeing has been selected to produce the Air Force's multibillion-dollar Next Generation Air Dominance penetrating platform, beating out Lockheed Martin in the contest after months of uncertainty.

SAIC pitches Army on 'interoperable' CUAS solution amid budget squeeze

Almost three years ago, the Pentagon's Joint Counter-small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Office (JCO) recommended Science Applications International Corp.'s layered counter-drone system as one of three vendor-provided solutions that the services and combatant commands looked at when considering the deployment of counter-UAS-as-a-service at an installation.

Space Force leaning on industry for Golden Dome's space-based interceptor tech

The defense industry will play a major role in delivering space-based interceptors for President Trump's Golden Dome initiative, particularly for countering missiles as far from the homeland as possible, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman said.

Pentagon posts CMMC presentation slides on alignment with NIST standards, FedRAMP equivalency

The Defense Department is providing new details on elements of its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program through presentation slides on alignment with National Institute of Standards and Technology standards and a 2023 memo on equivalency with the General Services Administration’s FedRAMP program.

What's happening

The week ahead

The Association of the United States Army hosts its annual conference in Huntsville, AL, this week. Meanwhile, senior defense officials are scheduled to speak at several events around Washington.

For Inside Defense subscribers

New NGAD investment could squeeze Air Force budget under yearlong CR

The Trump administration's decision to push forward with the F-47 Next Generation Air Dominance platform raises questions about how the major new aircraft program will be paid for, especially following Congress' recent passage of a yearlong stopgap spending bill that erodes the Pentagon's buying power.

Training exercise for CVN-78 underway ahead of next deployment

ABOARD THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER GERALD R. FORD -- Off the coast of Virginia, the multiweek Composite Training Unit Exercise is underway for the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) -- a series of test events to be completed before the warship's next deployment, projected to be later this summer, according to officials.

Former Trump DOD officials: Don't put MDA in charge of Golden Dome

As the Pentagon readies to present a proposal next week to President Trump for a new national missile defense system, two former top defense officials are warning against handing the job to the Missile Defense Agency, arguing the effort requires a fresh, integrated approach that transcends existing bureaucracies.